The Unreality of Reality. The Reality of the Unreal

Bendana | Pinel Art Contemporain is pleased to present ‘The Unreality of Reality. The Reality of the Unreal’, Niccolò Montesi’s second solo exhibition at the gallery.

Niccolò Montesi’s photography is part of a tradition of research that considers the image as a means of questioning and transforming the gaze. In his practice, it becomes a process of abstraction and visual concentration that questions the relationship between reality, perception and imagination. The PANTELLERIA PAESE and TRESIGALLO series develop two complementary dimensions of his research. These two places, distant geographically, historically and in their urban form, are nevertheless linked by the same approach: that of considering reality not only as a physical space, but also as a symbolic and mental projection surface. In Pantelleria, Montesi focuses on architecture that has been profoundly marked by time and daily use. Walls, surfaces and chromatic textures become the true subjects of the images. The low, irregular light emphasizes their materiality, revealing imperfections, cracks and traces of lived experience. Through fragmented, close-up compositions, often devoid of recognizable spatial references, Montesi isolates portions of reality and transforms them into autonomous visual fields. This approach reveals similarities with Alberto Burri’s material research and Nicolas de Staël’s lyrical abstractions. Pantelleria thus appears as an island that is felt rather than seen, where reality can only be grasped after a slow process of contemplation, revealing all the immaterial richness that permeates it. With regard to the work on Tresigallo, a different but mirror-image direction is developing. Here, Montesi is interested in rationalist architecture in an urban space designed according to principles of order, symmetry and formal control. Similarly, the images are constructed from essential geometries, measured horizons and a rigorous use of light, which defines volumes and surfaces with almost analytical precision. Montesi also strives to reveal the mysterious dimension of this architecture. Tresigallo thus appears as a suspended and silent city, imbued with a sense of temporal immobility. This character echoes metaphysical painting, particularly that of Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carrà, where architecture becomes a symbolic place devoid of human presence. Niccolò Montesi observes reality while transforming it, revealing the sensitive and symbolic dimensions of the landscape and urban space. In his work, the unreal is not a denial of reality, but one of its possible extensions. Photography thus becomes a tool for capturing the complexity and ambiguity of reality, opening up a space for reflection that goes beyond simple representation.

What to expect:
Architecture, Photography